Magnussen leads the way with McLaren on day two in Bahrain - Eleven times on the board as Bottas hits the century
Published by Christine
For the first time since pre-season testing began, all eleven teams hit the track today and all drivers managed to set a time. Sebastian Vettel completed almost 60 laps, as Red Bull finally got themselves some meaningful running. Williams also had a far better day than yesterday, with Valtteri Bottas putting in the extra work to make up for Massa being kept in the garage due to a technical issue. The Finn completed over 100 laps around the Bahrain International Circuit today, and finished with the fifth fastest time.
Ahead of him, Nico Rosberg was fourth but the German brought out two red flags along the way. Fernando Alonso was strong in third, whilst yesterday's leader Nico Hülkenberg was pipped to the top spot and had to settle for second. It was Kevin Magnussen who went fastest, with Mercedes engines continue to prove the strongest - at least on paper, anyway. Kevin has a good head on his shoulders, though, keeping his feet on the ground.
The team is doing a great job to help me: they’re giving me really good guidance and making me feel confident. There’s a lot of discussion about laptimes, and it feels good to get some good times recorded, but winter testing is just that – testing. It isn’t about times.
Marussia were the only team to really struggle as Max Chilton could only manage 17 laps and he came in plum last. The team struggled with a fuel system problem that halted their running. Caterham also had technical niggles, although theirs was with the telemetry and didn't stop them from too many laps.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K Magnussen | McLaren Mercedes | 1:34.910 | 46 |
| 2 | N Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:36.445 | 59 |
| 3 | F Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:36.516 | 97 |
| 4 | N Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:36.965 | 85 |
| 5 | V Bottas | Williams F1 Team | 1:37.328 | 116 |
| 6 | K Kobayashi | Caterham F1 Team | 1:39.855 | 66 |
| 7 | S Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:40.340 | 59 |
| 8 | JE Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:40.609 | 58 |
| 9 | E Gutiérrez | Sauber | 1:40.717 | 55 |
| 10 | R Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:41.670 | 18 |
| 11 | M Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | 1:42.511 | 17 |
Lotus also struggled in their second day of testing, with Romain Grosjean admitting that he still didn't get the lap count that he might have hoped for. With just eight on the board yesterday, and a further 18 today, the team could have done with more running, but some set-up and installation problems halted their programme.
Fantastic effort to recover from this afternoon's fuel system problem, which has kept us confined to the garage. Max is heading out now
Marussia_F1Team
Nico definitely enjoying his driving today - he lowers the best time to 1:36.445, more than 0.4s faster than his time from yesterday!
Felipe & Valtteri with both be in the car tomorrow as the remainder of the race team have arrived in #Bahrain for pitstop practice!
Another good day of testing done. Happy with the progress we are making. And tomorrow it's my turn to drive! Bring it on! @CaterhamF1 #ME9
It's all change tomorrow, as the alternating drivers swap again, and those doing blocks of two days at a time also head for a break. Daniel Ricciardo will be in action in the Red Bull, whilst Kimi Räikkönen takes over from Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari. Marcus Ericsson, Jenson Button and Sergio Pérez are all also expected to be back in action, whilst Pastor Maldonado gets his first taste of testing in 2014.
